Fire Lily
by Gaia caecilia
Summary: DAWNSTAR universe again. Ainicánë, the youngest son of Miriel and Elrohir finds a fire elf when he is out riding who has the personality to match her race. When he brings her into his world she blooms into something new, but something else blooms too.


All right, here is a new one shot, as anyone would guess from the summary this is once again in the dawnstar universe. It's a bit long but thats partly because i couldn't think of any good spots to spit it into multiple chapters. It is another story in which one of the remaining single males left at the end of 'She, sorry they, will be back' and is set after 'Song in the woods' as well, which should be pretty clear. Though this can act as a stand alone, due to multiple refernces to events that happened in the two main stories, it is seriously helpful to have read them. If you are wondering, the references made to Elladan getting a girl refer to a story that will be eventually posted in Rumrum's area who is my co-author for both 'Dawnstar and Friend' as well as 'She, sorry they, will be back'. She also posts storied in the dawnstar universe.

Anyway, enough of my rambling,

Disclaimer: I do not own Lord of the Ring, or Middle Earth of anything that is recognisably Tolkien. Characters that are clearly invented are mine, not that Tolkien would want that bunch of looneys, though the names mostly come from Tolkien elvish. The only things i actually own though are a huge (an increasing) student lone and a second hand teddy named after high king gil-galad. Your welcome to the former of those and the latter only holds sentimental value so there is no point in suing, i only write for my readers and my own enjoyment.

And the story finally starts...

3

Fire Lily

Ainicánë watched silently as his brother sat in the window seat with his new young wife talking quietly and occasionally kissing. He smirked slightly when he remembered finding the two of them sitting on a cliff before announcing their relationship to the world. Both had lit-up like tomatoes with his teasing. Ahh, good days.

He was still smiling when he walked off to the stables to saddle his horse, thinking about how he was apparently the only one around to be keeping his head. Everyone else seemed on a blind rush to matrimony and children. Even Uncle Elladan, the most confirmed bachelor in the elvish royalty, was looking to be getting a girl. Of course it was not publically announced yet but Ainicánë was not blind, apart from anything else, Elladan no longer wanted to join him with bottles of wine to gripe about the female members of their family trying to get them hitched.

At the stables, he opened the gates and let out his large roan stallion before closing the place up again and mounting 'the beast' as certain members of the family called it. 'The beast' was a good horse, if rather temperamental, almost worthy of the Fire Elves and their proud horses that were almost the colour of the grasses they lived on at autumn time. Those horses were not the prettiest horses in the world, but they were very good.

He was not sure where he rode to, just that he wanted to ride and escape all the gooeyness in his own home, especially as they had failed to arrange a new house for his brother and sister-in-law yet. Instead of going towards the shore line as he had when he had bumped into Mánasairon and Lirinandië, he went beyond the halls of the Valar and into less inhabited lands, unwittingly close to the place that Mána and Liri had met for the first time.

He, however, did not go into the woods which marked the border between the Steppes of Valinor and the land in which resided the Vanya. Though the apparently endless stretch of grassland looked deserted, this was where Aini was sure the Valar had settled the Fire Elves when they had eventually came to Valinor; in fact, Aini suspected that they had created the region purely for that purpose. The conditions which resulted in such Steppes did not usually turn up in a place like Valinor and it was not unlike the Valar to fiddle things deliberately.

With a whoop, the elven prince pushed his horse into a gallop. He could understand how the Fire Elves lived as nomads in what was a fairly barren land simply for the riding pleasure. The Steppes were _perfect_ for galloping across.

Aini played at the game, enjoying the ride for some time before he noticed something strange, quite far into the grasslands. As he steered his horse towards it he saw what it was, though he was embarrassingly close before he could.

It was one of the horses with their pale brown coats that belonged to the Fire Elves. On the other side was a tall red haired elleth fiddling with the creature's hind hoof, which was raised as the horse stood there not too patiently.

"Lady? What is wrong with your horse, do you need help?" He asked. She turned to him and her dark brown eyes glared. She apparently did not like the interruption.

"Nothing that an over-pampered house-dweller could help with, go back to your overly pretty building and leave me to do what people who know about the animals can." She virtually spat that. She did not apparently care for those who were not Nomads. Aini nonetheless dismounted and went over to her.

"I only asked, Lady, and I _do_ know something about horses. Not necessarily as much as your kind, but it I am still not ignorant of them," he said mildly. For all his trouble he got an acid-filled glare. While she was seeing to her horse, he looked her over. She was wearing fairly tight black leather leggings and a fitted black leather jacket without any sleeves as well as two gold bands round the top of each arm. Her hair was slightly lighter than was common with Fire Elves, much closer to a true red than the deep auburn most had and her face had sharp angles, though was still pretty in an unusual way. Aini had this feeling that on the wrong person, the features of her face would not be pretty at all. The sharpness of the face was enhanced by the French plait her hair was pulled back into.

"Lady, do those gold bands you wear not mean you are of high rank amongst your people?" he asked curiously. She turned another 'Look' on him.

"And what would you know of my people? Yours almost forgot we existed for millennia." He bowed his head in admittance of the truth of that statement.

"Staying with your kind for several weeks on the Steppes of Central Asia taught me a little something about your kind and I did try to listen, unlike Uncle Elladan who just drunk too much of you liquor and got a headache for his troubles." Her face softened momentarily before hardening – like she was reminding herself to be unpleasant to this 'house-dweller'.

"You're one of the Valar's champions?" There was a certain lack of hostility in her voice this time.

"I was named for it, Lady, though I fail to see where valour came into it unless you include getting between Great Uncle Adindel and Gil-galad fighting over Ginny as valour." She actually laughed this time. Then her brow wrinkled for a second before she spoke again.

"Ainicánë, am I right?" He smiled at her and nodded, impressed she had heard of him. Then she sighed and pursed her lips. "She's got a fairly serious stone bruise which caused her to stumble and cut herself. She can't be ridden and needs several days rest. My people are too far away for me to take her to them, which means, I guess, we will have to rest here for a while." She sighed again. Aini started a bit before realising she was finally answering his original question.

"Would she be able to get a few leagues without too much harm, if you lead her rather than rode?" She frowned, thought about it for a second and then nodded before her lips began to form the word 'why'. Aini spoke before she got the word out.

"My family's home is not too far away, and we have a pretty competent groom, that is if I can get my brother to stop kissing his wife long enough, then I can get him to use his magic to heal her. He's good at that I've discovered; better than me at any rate." She pulled a face.

"Actually stay in a house? I have to admit it would probably better for her, but..." She trailed off. Aini could see the dilemma, stay in a house, which she clearly despised, or stay in the endless grassland and wait longer for the horse to recover.

"Staying in the house has compensations, and I promise my mother will not try and get you into a dress. Unless there is an unforeseen party, which even I can't escape joining the silly-clothes-club for. And anyway, it would only be for a few days and you would be able to borrow one of our horses for the duration as well. Ours are pretty good as horses go." She laughed and gave in, she had been surreptitiously eyeing his beast as they had talked, and Aini guessed she approved.

XXX

Not too long later, the mismatched pair walled up to the back of the mansion of Miriel and Elrohir and led their horses into the stables where both were quickly settled and a groom immediately went to work on the injured mare. As they had neared the house, the Fire Elf went quiet; Aini had been nice enough not to comment on the awe she showed at his dwelling. Apparently this had _not_ been what she expected.

As they moved through from the stables into the main house, Aini saw his mother leaning against the wall further along, looking at him with raised eyebrows, cynical smile and crossed arms.

"And who would this be, my dearest son?" she enquired quietly, in a tone of voice that suggested that she was not impressed about something.

"This is Alyalóke, a Fire Elf I came across; her horse was injured so I offered to bring it here to be healed as she couldn't get it back to her own people." The cynical expression failed to drop.

"'Fair dragon', interesting name that. Do come with me while I show you somewhere more comfortable and then I hope you will not mind while I take my son aside for a few minutes, I need to talk him." The last part was said in an icy-sweet tone. Aini had this impression she was not happy with him.

Once Alyalóke was settled in the sitting room, trying not to look around in awe, Aini was pulled to an adjoining room. After a certain amount of earache, none of which Aini paid any attention to, she calmed enough to start asking nosy questions about Alyalóke, which were duly dodged. Aini wondered why she had assumed that, since he had brought a girl home that he was in love with aforementioned girl and that they would soon announce their engagement.

"Look, Nana, I only just met her and helped her out, there is nothing there!" he hissed, knowing that would probably get him another telling off and re-entered the sitting room Alyalóke waited in.

The red haired elleth was at one of the sides looking curiously, examining things Aini realised that she had probably never seen before. He almost smiled as she put her hand to the glass front of a cabinet and pressed a little and seemed to find the stuff fascinating. To someone who had been used to glass all his life, her fascination was highly amusing. He had the common sense not to laugh though.

Miriel carefully ignored the curiosity of the girl and asked if she wanted a drink.

"... I don't have any of that stuff your people gave us, but we have quite a selection of other things both alcoholic and non-alcoholic." Alyalóke laughed.

"_Votya_? Only the ellyn are dumb enough to drink that in any quantity. I think they wanted to see how many of you were gullible enough to drink too much of it. They find drunk people funny." Miriel and Aini looked at each other and said one word before bursting out laughing.

"Elladan!"

Alyalóke watched them with a bemused expression until they stopped laughing and raised an eyebrow.

"He would be my brother-in-law who happened to have drunk rather too much alcohol provided by the Fire Elves. It's not like he even learned from that experience. Within a week or so of leaving your people, he had already got falling-down-drunk again." Miriel laughed at the memory. Aini had to comment.

"I don't remember anyone other than Aunt Ellie and Ginny actually being even near sober at that particular occasion, you were pretty rat-arsed yourself. Who was it that suggested using Ada as a ramp to get up those steps?" His mother looked at him innocently.

"Your uncle, I just persuaded him against what better judgement he may or may not have had." Alyalóke burst out laughing.

"Do I want to hear the rest of this story? It sounds interesting." Alyalóke was grinning, eyes dancing mischievously and Aini suddenly noticed how pretty her dark gold eyes were. He was about to shake that thought away when something else shook it for him.

"No!" All heads turned to the doorway, standing there were both twin sons of Elrond looking mortified. Apparently the episode in Portugal was something they would rather forget. Elrohir, the quicker on the uptake, changed the subject by asking for introductions which were duly passed round.

Shortly after that, they were called in for dinner and once again the Fire Elf tried not to show her reactions to the many unfamiliar things around her. One advantage of the meal was that Mána had to stop kissing his wife and pay attention to the rest of the world for the duration, which gave Aini the time to ask him the help with Alyalóke's horse. He agreed and Liri promised to ensure that he actually did it rather than got distracted.

That night Miriel showed Alya, as she had been dubbed during dinner, to her room and helped her get settled.

XXX

The next morning Alya came down dressed in some of his mother's loose silk leggings that were of a beautiful emerald green and a crisp white fitted tunic both with matching embroidery in the other colour. She had been pretty the night before but...

"Wow," Aini whispered in awe. He had no idea that more feminine clothing and letting that wealth of hair down could turn her into something so beautiful, he felt his jaw drop as his mother appeared from behind Alya with a satisfied grin. He didn't have to guess who had chosen the clothes.

_Earlier..._

"Are you sure about this? I have never even worn fabric like this and I _never_ wear my hair down." Alya looked up at the blonde princess nervously. The silk felt lovely against her skin, but it was not like anything she had worn before and both the fabric and style of the clothing made her uncomfortable.

"Yes; you look stunning, Alya." Miriel grinned at her, eyes twinkling impishly.

"You're not trying to get Aini and I together, are you?" Alya asked suspiciously. Miriel shook her head.

"I long ago despaired of him getting a girl, or anyone in fact. I just want to see his face when you walk in looking that gorgeous. Males of all species fail to understand how clothes and hairstyle can make all the difference. You have hair a large percentage of the young ellyth in Valinor would kill for and an excellent body; why not make the most of it?" She smiled down at the younger elleth who nodded nervously. Alya wasn't really up for this whole dressing up and looking beautiful; with her own people it just got in the way and made the ellyn think you were incapable. If the Lady of the House was anything to go by, that wasn't the case here.

_Now..._

Alya had to admit, Aini's reaction was amusing though she was still uncomfortable in her borrowed clothes. To hide it, she brushed past him and sat beside Miriel at the table.

Aini was still staring at her when the rest of the family walked in. This resulted in him being teased for the rest of the meal by everyone present. Eventually he tried to change the subject.

"So, Alya, is living in a building so terrible?" Well she wasn't holding back either. She went slightly pink.

"No." She hesitated. "There are many things here I have not come across before, this for example." She pointed at the crystal glass in front of her that was filled with fruit juice. "You spend much more time on things here and there is much more artistry around you. You also use wood much more often. It is strange to see so much wood around, we only use it spartanly and for fires or tent supports, it is valuable." They looked at her in surprise. Glass was not a surprise but wood? That was the most common thing in the world, bar mud.

"Wood? Valuable?" Miriel asked in surprise, as a girl who had grown up in a forest the idea that wood might be something special was strange.

"Yes, the Steppes are semi-arid, it is why they are grassland for they cannot sustain anything more than small shrubs. Almost all wood has to be imported. That is why a gold band is a symbol of royalty, the sheer amount of wood required to form an ornament is very expensive. To take the time to make it decorative would be ruinous." They stared at her for a few more moments before Miriel shook her head.

"I am sorry, it is just I grew up in the great forest of Mirkwood and so the idea of wood being so valuable is strange to me. We had it in abundance at all times."

The conversation went on, talking about the similarities (very few) and the differences (innumerable) between the Fire Elves and their settled cousins. Afterwards Aini, Alya, Mána, Miriel and Liri went down to the stable to see to Alya's horse.

After examining the beast, Mána ran his palm along its hind leg and Aini felt the hum of magic as his brother healed the beast. When he looked up though, his eyes were grave.

"The injury is bad, Alya, if I heal it too fast it will actually hurt the horse so I have done what I can for now and taken away much of the pain, though left enough to stop her doing something that will cause more damage. She will only notice it if she does something she shouldn't." Alya nodded and allowed Aini to show her a horse she could borrow in the meantime. Both failed to notice the wink that passed between the other three Elves.

XXX

Both Elves tumbled off their horses laughing in exhilaration.

Alya had been so fascinated by the glass that Aini had offered to show her the glass works on his Aunt and Uncle's land. Aunt Eleanor loved glass and had actually got people to set up a glass works and they made her, as well as many other Elves, both decorative and functional glass. Alya had been more than willing to go see this.

They had both taken large powerful stallions and had raced there, and the ride had been exhilarating. Aini did not even let the thought that Alya looked really nice standing there laughing with her cheeks flushed and her hair windblown and falling around her to her waist touch hid mind.

When they had calmed down, they entered the fairly large stone building and even the Elves began to get hot. There were several large furnaces with Elves holding long tubes blowing glass, as well as one sculpting different coloured glass into some sort of figurine and nearby the (shirtless) Elf was Ellie, watching while her cat lay on the ground, wrapped round her legs in a feline sprawl.

After a few moments of awed watching, Alya spoke,

"I can see why Fire Elves never invented glass, even you must find it expensive to keep those fires going all day." Aini laughed.

"I wouldn't know, come on, I'll introduce you to Aunt Ellie." She raised an eyebrow at him. Her face was nearly as expressive as his aunt's, Ginny's and Charlotte's. All three had been brought up by humans and so, unlike most Elves, much of what they said was conveyed in their expression. Aini had always liked that about them. He nodded over at the tall gold-brown haired elleth whose hair glowed red in the firelight.

"The Dawnstar, my mother's sister-in-law and my father's great, great, great aunt, though don't call her that, she managed to compress several thousand years into 22 and doesn't really like being reminded of her true age. It makes her feel old." The look she gave him implied that she thought that Eleanor _was_ old.

He took her over to the legendary Princess and introduced the two and about half of their conversation seemed to be conducted in expressions and gestures. He failed understand any of it. Ellyth!

They left that afternoon with a small bowl with a deep brown horse galloping across the basin and pretty cut-crystal designs round the edges. It occurred to Alya that this was the first totally ornamental thing she had ever owned, even the gold bands she had warn the previous day had been partially functional in terms of the fact that they were a status symbol, sort of like a crown to a Queen really – decorative but necessary. This bowl, though Alya supposed it could be used, was designed to be looked at alone. It was a bit weird to own something ornamental.

XXX

Two days later, Mana could not put off telling Alya the horse was ready. To everyone's surprise Alya was not as enthused about it as they had expected. At the time Legolas, Ellie, Adindel and Ginny were present. Charlotte was supposed to be there, but she and Gil-galad were 'occupied', no-one needed telling with what. Ellie looked at the red head with slightly narrowed eyes.

"What aren't you telling us, Alya?" she asked; her tone suspicious.

"Erm, the reason for me having been so far from my people in the first place?" Ellie's expression said to continue. "Ada and Nana were insisting I find myself a husband. I don't want a husband, so I left," she said simply. Aini whooped and immediately caught everyone's attention.

"See, I'm not the only person in the world who doesn't want to get hitched! It's nice to know that there is someone I can gripe with about it again now Uncle Elladan has got trapped." He was virtually gloating at having found someone who agreed with him. Alya smiled at him slightly.

"Shouldn't we send your parents a messenger or something telling them you're at least safe and well cared for? I wouldn't want them to worry," Miriel asked. Alya's face hardened slightly.

"I've done this before when we've had a difference in opinions. They know I'll be fine and if they are worried, it will do them good for maybe then they will realise that is _cannot_ be married off to some old Lord or young warrior for good service to our people. I am _not_ a prize for _anyone!_" Her voice was emphatic and everyone agreed to her desires, with Ellie, Ginny and Miriel present, no other decision would be taken. As they had assured Alya her safety among them, Aini noticed a twinkle in his Aunt's eye and just had to ask.

"Oh, this reminded me of a lesson Thanduil learnt the hard way a few millennia ago." All three ellyth grinned and Legolas closed his eyes in pained recollection, though his was second hand. Every Elf who had been in Rivendell or Mirkwood at the time had heard _that_ story. They refused to elaborate at Alya's expression though.

XXX

The next morning Alya was sitting in the boy's old school room with a wax tablet and stylus, carefully writing out the Twenga letters. Only male Fire Elves of high rank usually learnt to write and only then to keep books of finances and practical things like that. Alya was finding she quite liked learning to read and write, though she couldn't help smiling as she thought of her father's reaction when he found out she had done so, he would not be pleased. She was too 'masculine' as he put it already.

She could almost like the idea of settling down in one of these dwellings, they were a lot more comfortable (and she was discovering that she liked comfort) and the ellyth here seemed so much freer than her own people, despite being 'confined' by all these walls. She shifted slightly in the silk she was wearing, one of several new outfits Miriel had commissioned for her and smiled again. She could definitely get to like this place.

Suddenly Mana entered the room and he did not look happy.

"Alya, you're needed down in the formal reception room. Aini, I think it might be a good idea if you come too actually." He bit his lip, an expression which looked wrong on the Prince of Elves. The two looked at each other for a second before making their way downstairs.

As she entered the room, Alya stopped dead. Inside was her father, not looking too amused. Aini pushed her a little bit so he could get into the room then also stopped dead as he saw the tall Fire Elf, an Elf that he did recognise. He had seen him in Kazakhstan when he had been on the mission to retrieve the last of the Elves and Maia.

This was the King of the Fire Elves.

At the slight scuffle at the door, he turned round and stared at his daughter harshly. The piercing gaze was made all the more noticeable by the harsh, almost barbaric appearance that all Fire Elves seemed to have.

"Alyalóke, how nice to see you again." The tone was icy, and very similar to that of another Elven King, many millennia ago.

"Your Majesty, one wonders what you are doing in a house, I could have sworn that you once said that you would never be caught dead in a house." Alya virtually spat the comment out. He pulled his chin in slightly and glared at her, arms crossed across his chest. Mana and Aini moved either side of her, flanking her protectively while their cats moved in front of them to form a solid wall. The tall Elf looked down at the large cats and his hand moved to his sword, though he had the common sense not draw it

"I have come to call a wayward daughter home. It is long overdue time you were married and you are acting like a child. If you cannot find yourself an ellon, then I will find one for you." His eyes flashed dangerously. Before she could answer, Aini spoke up.

"Alyalóke has been given sanctuary in this house for as long as she requires in, _Hir nin_, and while she is a resident here she will not be forced to marry anyone." He put a protective arm round Alya's shoulder and noticed she was shaking slightly; apparently she was not as bold as she was pretending to be.

Silence reigned in the room while the Fire King eyed the pair, face expressionless. Suddenly there was a soft voice speaking in a tone that was almost a purr. They all started and turned. Much to everyone's surprise, on the other side of the room, lounging casually (in a way that wasn't half as casual as it was pretending to be) against a bookshelf, was Eleanor. Her expression was hard, flat and she wore a slight smile that definitely didn't reach her eyes. She sinuously pulled herself up from the bookcase and moved further into the room.

"Let me show you what happened last time an Elf King tried to tell his daughter to come home and do what he wanted." She raised her hand and coloured sparks flew off them to fill the clear area between them and then a scene began to play out in front of them.

_There was an elegant courtyard, filled with Elves. On the steps were the golden lord, Lord Elrond and his chief-councillor and in front of them was King Thanduil and his brother. Behind the brothers were a large party of Mirkwood Elves. From behind the group rode two ellyth and a human, each dressed in a very revealing dress with flower garlands in their hair._

_It was the Lords of Rivendell who noticed the girls first and they went white. Then Thanduil and his brother turned round and the entire group stilled. The blonde elleth, obviously of Mirkwood descent, said two words._

'_Suilaid Ada.' {Hi dad}_

_An argument ensued, resulting in the elleth running off into the building having left a cutting passing-shot at her father. He then turned to blame her rebelliousness on her companions who simply brushed it off with their own cutting passing-shots._

'_Gelir na Thaed.' __{Happy to help}_

'_Glassen.' __{My pleasure}_

The images dissolved. Ellie just smiled emotionlessly up at the Fire King.

"Miriel got her way; Thanduil had the common sense to let her have her freedom. Miriel, Ginny and I are committed to allowing all Elves to be free and we will not allow an Elf to be forced into marriage. We do not want arguments with your people, Fire King, but we will _not_ allow you to force Alyalóke into marrying someone she does not want to marry. This is backed by the entire royal families of the Noldor and the Sindar, and all the power both houses hold." Aini had only previously heard of occasions when his Aunt had used her position but he suddenly found 'Princess mode' scary. She stood there, the Dawnstar necklace out, hair in formal braids and radiating authority. The Fire King would be a fool to argue with her. The giant black cat helped the image a fair bit too.

He looked at her for a few moments, then turned to his daughter, still with Aini's arm round her shoulder and looked between them. Silence reigned. Eventually he nodded his head and left the room without a word. Once he was gone, the tension drained out of the room and Ellie finally let loose a real smile.

Aini sighed in relief and without thinking pulled Alya into his arms for a hug. She stiffened for a moment before curling into the hug. Both failed to notice the knowing looks that passed between Ellie and Mana.

XXX

Several months later, winter hit and Alya discovered that she _definitely_ preferred a house in winter, it was much more comfortable. Then came Christmas, and after much cajoling, Alya agreed to wear a dress for the party at Ellie's house. Alya had actually taken to wearing skirts, at least (practical ones) in the winter, as she could curl up on one of the sofa's and tuck her feet into the folds of fabric and that was much more comfortable than in leggings. She also liked using a certain Elf as a pillow. The Elf in question didn't seem to mind her leaning on him, with one arm wrapped round her as he helped her read increasingly difficult books. She had found she liked reading; there were so many stories in books that the bards never told.

This year they were all going in white dresses with the embroidery of their house on the dresses. In true Rivendell style, the dresses left little to the imagination. The males who had been on the trip back to Earth, and those returned on the trip, all wore kilts, a tradition that had been set up when they stayed in Scotland for the winter holiday.

In the evening there was a ball, where many of the Elves from all three realms which had been introduced to Christmas came and joined in. Alya was eternally glad that she had let Miriel talk her into dancing lessons as many of the young ellyn wanted to dance with her. Aini on the other hand, seemed distinctly not happy and only seemed to smile when he had stolen another dance with her.

He then managed to steal a dance with her to a tune which the partners were supposed to share some sort of skin to skin contact with each other at the end. It was the same tune that both Ginny and Charlotte had so graphically shown their choice in husbands to the world with only a few years previously. Both had small children now.

Much to Alya's amazement, at the end Aini pulled her into a deep kiss. How long had he felt like that?

She then noticed that none of Aini's family seemed all that surprised by it, even though her cheeks were flaming. It wasn't Aini's cheeks which were burning, it was his eyes and a blind man could see the emotions there. He seized her hand and led her out the room to a secluded grove near the house.

Once there, he stood panting and looking at her, his emotions – both love and desire – burning in his eyes. Eventually he spoke to her.

"I have been longing to do that all day, fair one. Do you have any idea how beautiful you are?" She flushed again. She had never cared for compliments; they usually were because she was the Princess, not because of any sincerity. This one, she could tell, was real. Very real, and she found herself exited by it, much to her surprise.

Aini then raised his hand to her cheek and stroked it gently as he looked into her eyes.

"May I kiss you again?" he asked softly. She had barely managed a slight nod when he pulled her into his arms and kissed her again. After some time, they separated for air. "Will you allow me to court you, Alya?" he said. Her response was to pull him back in for another kiss.

XXX

Lord Urúvion and his wife, Malthenniel, sat in their winter tent trying to be civil to the Lord and his obnoxious son who were present and whining about their apparent lack of control over their daughter. They wanted Alyalóke home again so she could go through the choosing ceremony, where she would be forced to take a husband. Urúvion didn't say that, even if she did go through the ceremony, she would never choose his brat, which was clearly what the Lord wanted.

It was at this opportune moment that a Noldor messenger was shown in. Urúvion took the letter from the silent Elf, slit it open and read it, a smile forming on his face.

_My Lord Urúvion, Fire King._

_After your previous visit to the house of my sister-in-law and nephew, I thought you would be pleased to hear this news I bear. Your daughter may have sent you a message to this affect as well (though judging by the way she seems rather distracted I think this unlikely) but I still feel that you should be informed of this turn of events. Alyalóke_ _had begun courting my nephew, Ainicánë, and we all expect an announcement of betrothal soon._

_Sincerely,_

_Eleanor, Caladhiel Minuialêl, Arel, the Dawnstar of the Elves, Princess of Gondolin and wife of Prince Legolas of the Sindars._

He looked up at the Lord who had gone silent at the unexpected letter. The Fire Elves were not exactly in frequent contact with the Noldor. Urúvion tried not to look pleased.

"I'm afraid your arguments are now defunct, My Lord; as I suspected would happen, my daughter has started courting Prince Ainicánë of both the Noldor and the Sindar, an eminently suitable match and one the Dawnstar herself clearly approves of. I suspected this would soon be the case when I left her among the house-dwellers. Why do you think I allowed her to stay?" The Lord in question did not seem too impressed and politely agreed before equally politely excusing himself and his son.

Urúvion turned to his wife and smiled before penning a polite reply. Though the Dawnstar had been right, that bad blood between the Fire Elves and their less transient cousins was a bad idea, his main reason for leaving his daughter was that a blind human could see that the two felt for each other, even if they couldn't see it themselves. He approved of the Prince, especially the way that he had stood up for Alya even though they had known each other for only days.

He grinned wickedly, he would however insist on the following Fire Elf wedding customs, not that the couple would object, if he remembered the ones of the house-dwellers correctly. He smiled again as his wife came and wrapped her arms round him and kissed his neck, reading both the letter and the reply over his shoulder. Few knew she could read, but that was to their advantage. He suspected that now his daughter could too, another advantage of the Prince over one of their own kind.

He sealed the letter and gave it to the messenger, who left immediately and then turned to his wife, now that they were alone, to do something much more interesting than politics. Giggling, she lay back on the furs invitingly.

XXX

"Gaernana, I think Claudia is pregnant," Aini said, stroking the fur of the large black and white cat on the floor. Myrwen looked up from her husband to her youngest grandson.

"Really? I wonder how that happened," she said absently, playing with her infant son. Aini rolled his eyes, to the giggling of his young uncle.

"Probably the same way he happened. I wonder which terror is the father?"

"Yours, I think, they disappeared off around the same time not long ago. I'm amazed that one of the cats hasn't got pregnant before now, actually."

Over the next week all four younger female cats got pregnant.

Aini decided that this would be a good time to go visit his cousin and her husband, taking Alya along of course. A little while into the conversation Aini asked about the cats' simultaneous pregnancies. Ulmö didn't look even slightly repentant as he explained.

"I like the cats, and anyway, Charlotte, Liri, Alya and all the babies need some as well. Yavanna and I decided we might as well get all the kittens born at the same time." Valya and Aini looked at each other and laughed, shaking their heads. Alya, on the other hand, just looked shocked. They had forgotten she was not used to the insane Valar as they were.

"You'll get used to the Valar doing things like that after a while Alya, they are just a tiny bit insane. Incidentally, Ulmö, is there any particular reason for including Alya in that list?"

"You're courting, aren't you?"

"I guess you take that to mean that we will be married fairly soon?" Aini asked. The water Vala gave him a look that Ellie, Ginny and Charlotte would describe as 'Well, duh' like that was obviously what was going to be the case. He turned to Alya. "It's nice to know that we actually have the choice, isn't it?" Alya laughed nervously.

XXX

Not too long later the kittens were born. The most peculiar thing was that, of all Valya's litter, not one of the kittens was normal by the standards of the giant cats. One had leopard markings on her fur rather than the usual markings the cats had, another was more normal in size for a domestic cat and ginger, a third had dark grey-blue fur, whilst the last had silver-blue fur with dark grey-blue stripes. The latter two went to Ulmö and his son (not that the Vala in question would tamper to get suitably sea-like pets at all); the small one went to Charlotte who immediately named it 'Wizzy' after the ginger cat she had at home. The leopard-spotted one was duly given to Alya. She seemed delighted at receiving the cat and fussed it enormously.

They later discovered that 'Rauco' resembled a larger version of the big cats' native to the Steppes Alya had grown up on. Aini suspected the pale gold fur with black rosettes would be surprisingly good camouflage in the long grass of the Valinorian Steppe.

XXX

As late spring hit, so did the Elven version of Valentine's Day. Though on the trip back to Earth it had been discovered that originally Valentine's Day fell at the end of winter, due to Ellie and Ginny trying to set up Erestor and his wife, Silva (successfully) then Valentine's Day had moved to the late spring.

Another transplanted tradition was mistletoe, giving everyone lots of excuses to be kissing each other. Throughout the night, Aini's emotions seemed to be on a roller coaster, flying between love and adoration for Alya and extreme jealousy every time another Elf tried to steal a kiss from her, even though Mana reminded him that since they were only courting, the other Elves had plenty of right to do so.

He totally missed the looks between his mother and her insane friends, especially the way that Ginny seemed to spend large amounts of time concentrating on him. Eventually, he took Alya outside to a flower garden in deep bloom and cut off a white rose, thanking the bush for letting him have it. He then turned to her and gave it to her. She smiled at him and tucked it into her hair.

They walked for a while before they came to a deserted alcove, with a little fountain bubbling out. It was one of the many Ellie had commissioned at some point. Aini took Alya's hand and bit his lip nervously before kissing each of her palms. He didn't know why, he just did. Eventually he got round to asking what he had wanted to ask her.

"Alya, will you marry me?" he said it in a rush but she seemed to get it. Her head shot up and she stared at him. Terrified she was going to say no, he began babbling. She silenced him with a kiss.

XXX

The next morning, they sat down in a sitting room in Eleanor's house to talk, none of them had got home the previous night, Aini and Alya (amongst others) had better things to do anyway. When the pair announced their engagement, everyone was suitably happy, though none seemed all that surprised. Ellie had an interesting contribution to make though.

"When you two started courting, I sent a letter to your father to inform him of such, since he seemed so determined to get you married off. He sent me one back, he is very happy about your choice, but expects you to hold up the traditions of you people – whatever that means." Alya suddenly went slightly pink as everyone looked at her expectantly for an explanation. After a minute or so she spoke.

"I means that, as soon as possible, Aini and I are expected to ride out to my parents, since his already know (or else we would have to ride to them as well) and tell them of the betrothal. Once all parents know, we have a month to bind with each other. From the first night we are bound we are expected to spend at least a month somewhere private and not be seen at all in that time. We don't believe in wasting time." She was very pink by the end of the explanation. Ellie raised an eyebrow.

"Would my summer house be private enough?" she asked, grinning. If looks could kill then Ginny's glare would certainly have done. Alya had heard that story so laughed with the rest of them.

XXX

Later that afternoon, Alya and Aini tumbled off their horses laughing, having galloped from his Aunt's house to the main camp of the Fire Elves and her parents' tent. Beside them was Aini's giant cat, with Rauco in his mouth, having carried the kitten with him.

At the sound of delighted laughter, both of Alya's parents came out of the tent. Many of the Fire Elves, both male and female gathered round as well. As Alya neatened herself up, flattening her hair and removing locks from the decorative clips then pushed back her coat to reveal another set of green silk leggings and fitted blouse, her mother's jaw dropped and many of the Elves around her stared in shock. She had forgotten only her father among the Fire Elves had seen her dressed as such. Tough for them; she liked her new silk riding clothes, for they were so much more comfortable.

"Alya, you have changed, my child; I have never seen you dressed as such," her mother said in shock. Aini laughed.

"My mother decided to try getting her into some new clothes; she's even got her into a dress a few times. She looked absolutely stunning." If anything, the looks of shock increased. The idea of their tomboyish Princess in dresses and beautiful feminine clothing was one few of the Fire Elves could get into their heads.

"Get into, Aini? I think that is an overstatement. I am still not entirely sure how those dresses stayed up." He laughed.

"Oh, but you did look so nice in them, Orenya!" {My heart, Q}

"You mean you liked the fact the highest point on them was about here." She put her hand at a fairly low point of her bust. It was true; the dresses had only just covered everything necessary.

"You mean you don't like me looking at all that lovely skin of yours? Pity, I enjoyed it thoroughly." They looked at each other and laughed. Everyone, including Urúvion this time, stared at them in shock. Neither had noticed themselves going off on a little tangent. The Fire King spoke up.

"Erm, Prince Ainicánë? Are you sure this is my daughter with you? She sort of looks like her but..." Both Elves laughed again.

"Yes, Ada, I am Alyalóke; I've just spent too much time with a bunch of house-dwellers, who happen to be great fun and while I was there I discovered that I am really attached to things like hot baths, fine clothing, a large range of food and being able to read and write and work my way through their book collection." As she said this, she gathered up her kitten from the large tom-cat, who seemed a bit bored of carrying the smaller cat. Urúvion looked at her then the cat and back to her again in surprise.

"I thought you had learnt to read and write... so anyway, off the recent changes in you, was there any particular reason for you visiting or did you just want to say hello?" Both Aini and Alya looked at each other, suddenly slightly nervous.

"We came to announce our betrothal, Ada. The Dawnstar informed us that you had said that you wished for us to uphold our people's traditions." He smiled and laughed slightly.

"I thought that might be the case, the Dawnstar did not think it would take you long to get engaged. Have you thought of your secluded place yet?" His eyes twinkled mischievously. Both Elves looked at each other then back at the Fire King.

"Eleanor and Legolas' summer house?" They said in absolute unison and then collapsed laughing.

XXX

A little while later, the two stood in one of the upstairs rooms of the summer house that belonged to Eleanor and Legolas and opened a package left on the table with food supplies. Inside was a book bound in red leather with an embossed horse made of gold flames on the front. They opened the book to the dust cover sheet on which was written:

_For Alyalóke and Ainicánë_

_I think you two will find this volume useful in your married life and considering the fact that you are supposed to spend a month in bed, possibly will find it as useful as Ginny and Adindel did._

_Charlotte_

They turned to the next page and on that, marked in swirly writing, was:

_The Karma Sutra_

_With illustrations and an appendix of suggestions by Charlotte._


End file.
